7 Best Museums in Singapore
If you’re planning to visit Singapore, there are so many amazing museums that will break up your busy day of sightseeing in Singapore. You can check out some of the best museums and cultural institutions in the city-state. Most of it is housed in well-preserved heritage buildings, which are true Singaporean fashion and it goes all out when it comes to innovating public education.
1. Singapore Art Museum
The Singapore Art Museum, located on Bras Basah Road, displays a rotating collection of local and Southeast Asian contemporary artwork. It earlier hosts Singapore’s first Catholic school: St Joseph’s Institution. The nearby extension building, 8Q at SAM on Queen Street, was earlier Catholic High school that’s been renovated for the 21st century and equipped for film screenings. It showcases the finest contemporary artworks and installations from around the region.
2. Peranakan Museum – Singapore
The Peranakan Museum is the true example of the hybrid culture unique to Singapore and the Malayan region. Peranakan culture is the outcome of the intermarriage of indigenous Malay communities and immigrant Chinese traders hundreds of years ago.
Here you can see one of the best collections of Peranakan artifacts in the world. You can also learn about the culture’s unique practices and know the Peranakans in Singapore’s history that came to existence through interactive multimedia exhibits.
3. National Museum of Singapore
The National Museum of Singapore is the oldest museum at over a century old, opening in 1887 along Stamford Road as Raffles Library and Museum. This 19th-century Neo-Palladium architecture tells the story of Singapore’s development through immersive and interactive exhibitions. You can explore the Singapore History Gallery to know the city-state’s history, from as early as the 13th century before to the arrival of the British.
4. ArtScience Museum
In the shaped of a half-unfurled white lotus flower, the ArtScience Museum has a special place that has a prominent place overlooking Marina Bay close to the Helix Bridge. This museum host internationally popular exhibitions that display the fusion of technology and culture, collaborating with a diverse range of partners from Dreamworks Animation to the Smithsonian Institute. The major exhibit is FutureWorld: The intersection of Art and Science, designed by the Japanese collective team lab, an interactive multimedia extravaganza that has been popular with the millennium generation.
5. National Gallery Singapore
The National Gallery Singapore exhibits over 8,000 modern Southeast Asian artworks, making it one of the world’s largest public collections. It is known to display the key works of pioneer Singaporean artists such as Georgette Chen, Cheong Soo Pieng, and Liu Kang, known as the torchbearers of the Nanyang art style, rooted in traditional Chinese materials but influenced by Western styles of an oil painting. Located in two prominent historical buildings: the former City Hall and Supreme Court, this is a sprawling conservation space and an architectural masterpiece in its own right.
6. Asian Civilisations Museum
The Asian Civilisations Museum contains an impressive collection of artifacts, shining like a hot hub on Singapore’s multicultural roots. The museum is situated at the Singapore River, a great location that was once the center of trade with the rest of the world.
7. National Design Centre
If you’re a design lover you’ll be delighted to visit the National Design Centre in the Bras Basah-Bugis arts and culture district. It has dominated most of the art deco exterior while transforming the interior into a space that witnesses a rotating lineup of events promoting Singapore’s design scene. Here you’ll come to know about the 50 Years of Singapore Design history lesson on the evolution of Singaporean design.